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Queen Mathilde of Belgium and the spouses of several world leaders have called for stronger international standards to protect children from online risks during a UN panel hosted by Türkiye’s Ministry of Family and Social Services in New York, Anadolu Agency reported.
The panel, titled “The Invisible Architecture: Building Safe Digital Systems for Children – Advancing International Standards and Shared Responsibility,” was held at UN headquarters on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly’s high-level week.
The event was organized under the auspices of Türkiye’s first lady Emine Erdoğan in cooperation with UNICEF and the Office of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children. Turkish Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş also attended.
AI risks and child protection
Opening the panel, Queen Mathilde warned that rapid advances in artificial intelligence were creating new risks for children.
“Children cannot be the subjects of a global technology experiment or guinea pigs for business models based on data collection and attention,”
She said child safety must become a central objective of AI governance, extending beyond parental controls, content moderation and data protection.
Serbian first lady Tamara Vučić thanked Emine Erdoğan for bringing the participants together and said children must be prepared for both the physical and digital worlds through education and responsible technology use.
Gambian first lady Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow called on governments to enforce stronger laws and urged technology companies to introduce stricter safeguards, warning that online threats can easily cross national borders.
Kenyan first lady Rachel Ruto said children’s personal data, locations, photographs and online activities must not be treated as commodities, urging countries to take collective action.
Sierra Leone’s first lady Fatima Maada Bio said technological progress must be accompanied by stronger protections against online exploitation, cyberbullying and privacy violations.
Calls for oversight of AI systems
Sahar Salam, the wife of Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, called for greater oversight of AI systems, recalling the suicide of a 15-year-old child in Lebanon who was found to have been chatting with an AI system.
She stressed the need to monitor how such systems respond when children turn to AI during difficult periods.
“We cannot expect children to understand the commercial logic of algorithms or assess whether an AI response is psychologically appropriate,”
Other participants, including the spouses of leaders from Lithuania, Burundi, Guatemala, Senegal, Romania, Chile and Canada, highlighted the importance of international cooperation, enforceable regulations and greater accountability for technology companies.
UNICEF Child Protection Director Sheema Sen Gupta praised Türkiye’s efforts to place children’s online safety higher on the global agenda, saying that protecting children in digital environments is not merely a national priority but a global responsibility.
UN Special Representative on Violence against Children Najat Maalla M’jid also called for stronger accountability, saying governments, technology companies and the wider digital ecosystem share responsibility for creating safer online environments.
